If you’d like to kick off the new year with some hard-hitting action, you probably can’t go wrong with Mayhem!, a new action thriller from director Xavier Gens (Gangs of London). IFC Films has released the first trailer for Mayhem!, which stars kickboxer-turned-actor Nassim Lyes as an ex-con battling his way through Thailand to avenge his wife and save his daughter.
Mayhem! premiered at Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival earlier this year and earned rave reviews. If the movie is anything like the trailer, those raves were well deserved. In the vein of Taken and The Raid, the film features “jaw-dropping fight sequences and captivating camera movements, while transcending the traditional action genre with the story’s emotional core paired with artful cinematography.” I’ll admit that this one had slipped under my radar, but it’s definitely got my attention now.
Here’s the official synopsis: “Sam (Nassim Lyes) is a professional boxer about to be released from prison in France, but while on parole, his past catches up with him and he is forced to flee the country. Five years later, he has rebuilt a simple life on an exotic island in Thailand with his wife Mia and her daughter Dara, working multiple jobs to support his family and buy a piece of land to build a restaurant. As his life begins to improve, a job gone wrong puts Sam in the crosshairs of local crime lord Narong (Olivier Gourmet), who retaliates with brutal violence. Crushed but still alive, Sam is left with only one purpose: to seek merciless and bone-breaking vengeance.” Mayhem! will be released in theaters and on VOD on January 5, 2024.
What did you think of the trailer for Mayhem!? Does it have the potential to become an action classic?